# folk vs NanoClaw > NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) to folk's 19.8 (F) for proactive personal assistants. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanoclaw - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanoclaw.md (~3,400 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanoclaw.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanoclaw.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-13 NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against folk's 19.8 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do proactive personal assistants. - folk: grade F, 19.8/100, rank #993 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/folk-nozomio.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/folk-nozomio.json - NanoClaw: grade B, 68.3/100, rank #229 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.json - Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md - All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md ## Which one, for what ### folk (F) Good for: People who want a texting companion for habits, workouts, study and money goals, with a free tier. Also in its favour: - No incidents deducted, where NanoClaw loses 5 points for them Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### NanoClaw (B) Good for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork. Ahead on: - Reliability, 78 against 25 - Schema & documentation, 82 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 70 against 0 - Security & auth, 74 against 3 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 30 - Maintenance & community, 78 against 35 Also in its favour: - No key needed to call it - Open source Watch for: The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt ## Score by category | Category | Weight | folk | NanoClaw | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 78 | NanoClaw +53 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 10 | 82 | NanoClaw +72 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 70 | NanoClaw +70 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 3 | 74 | NanoClaw +71 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 60 | NanoClaw +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 35 | 78 | NanoClaw +43 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 65 | folk +2 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -5 | | | **Total** | | **19.8 · F** | **68.3 · B** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | folk | NanoClaw | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Agent harness | | Vendor | Nozomio, Inc. | NanoCo, Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | OAuth or key | None | | Pricing | Freemium | Free | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under folk's terms (Nozomio, Inc., last updated 8 September 2026). | MIT | | Read-only variant documented | yes | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-09 | | Terms last updated | | no document linked | | Privacy policy last updated | | no document linked | | Customer content may train models | | | | Terms restrict automated access | | | | Terms restrict benchmarking | | | | Terms or service can change without notice | | | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | | | | Popularity | none | 31k stars | ## Verdicts **folk.** folk is a texting accountability assistant with its own cloud computer, a free tier with no card and a privacy policy that rules out training on user data. No outside agent can call it, no status page or changelog was found, and its llms.txt and pricing file disagree on free limits and Max's price. **NanoClaw.** Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval. ## Before you call either ### folk 1. Don't plan to call folk from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage, Telegram or WhatsApp thread and iPhone app. 2. Quote limits and prices from pricing.md and the terms, and note that llms.txt gives different free-tier limits. ### NanoClaw 1. Install with `git clone` and `bash nanoclaw.sh`. There is no registry package, and setup needs Docker, Node 22 or later and a Claude or Codex credential 2. Set `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` before giving an agent credentials or an audience of strangers. The default leaves egress open 3. Put chats with different audiences in separate agent groups. Every session of a group shares one read-write workspace and memory tree 4. Turn on per-request approval for a secret in the gateway when its use should wait for a person. It is off unless configured 5. On OneCLI installs, move the gateway to 1.42.0 by the upgrade guide before updating to 2026.10.0. The updater stops until that is done ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, folk or NanoClaw? NanoClaw scores 68.3 (B) on agent readiness against folk's 19.8 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ### Are folk and NanoClaw open source? No open-source release is listed for folk. NanoClaw is open source (MIT). ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanoclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanoclaw.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "folk-nozomio", "b": "nanoclaw"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare folk-nozomio nanoclaw` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/folk-nozomio.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.json ## Other comparisons with folk or NanoClaw - [asaply vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [asaply vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Asmi vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Asmi vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Boba vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Boba vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Brea vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Brea vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Del vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Del vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [folk vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-hirealpha.md) - [folk vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openinstinct.md) - [folk vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orbits.md) - [folk vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [folk vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-szn.md) - [folk vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-tab-bot.md) - [folk vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zapia.md) - [HireAlpha vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openinstinct.md) - [NanoClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [NanoClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [NanoClaw vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-szn.md) - [NanoClaw vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-tab-bot.md) - [NanoClaw vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [AstrBot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Boski vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Boski vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Caddy vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Caddy vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [CowAgent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [folk vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-gaia.md) - [folk vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [folk vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-grok-bot.md) - [folk vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-haven.md) - [folk vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [folk vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-instinct.md) - [folk vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-ironclaw.md) - [folk vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-leon.md) - [folk vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-lindy.md) - [folk vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-nanobot.md) - [folk vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openai-dots.md) - [folk vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openclaw.md) - [folk vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-picoclaw.md) - [folk vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-poke.md) - [folk vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [folk vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-town.md) - [folk vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [folk vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zo-computer.md) - [GAIA vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Gemini Spark vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Grok Bot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Haven vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Instinct vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Leon vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Lindy vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [nanobot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.md) - [NanoClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.md) - [NanoClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-town.md) - [NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zo-computer.md) - [folk vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-natura.md) - [folk vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-pally.md) - [folk vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-tomo.md) - [folk vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-wajo.md) - [NanoClaw vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-natura.md) - [NanoClaw vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-pally.md) - [NanoClaw vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-tomo.md) - [NanoClaw vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-wajo.md) - [folk vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-talorys.md) - [NanoClaw vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - folk competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.